"Behold the Lamb of God" - John 1:29

Why a lamb, cute and cuddly, "its fleece as white as snow"? Why not a lion, bold and strong, or an eagle, soaring, majestic? Both images for God can be found in the Hebrew Scriptures. Why a lamb?

I remember a bright spring day, watching two lambs cavort round their mother, then nurse.  Apparently their joy could not be expressed simply by the shake of lamb's tail; as they nursed, their whole backsides shook, twitched from side to side, quivered with delight.

I still smile, thinking of those lambs. But is that an adequate metaphor for portraying the Son of God incarnate ("God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father")? Why a lamb?

Perhaps because Jesus, like those lambs I saw, took delight in each gift from God. He celebrated  lilies of the fields and  birds of the air. Jesus recognized the image of God in each person he met.  Like a lamb, Jesus was non-threatening. In Jesus, God became approachable. 

Eagles and lions are predators; lambs are not predators. Lambs, in fact, easily become prey. They are vulnerable to the attacks of coyotes and wild cats, raptors and wolves - not to mention the voracious appetites of humans. Lambs are regularly fleeced by human hands, slaughtered at human whim.

Behold the lamb of God. Vulnerable.